Meta Ridley
Meta Ridley is a cybernetically enhanced dragon-like creature that appears in Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. A recurring threat throughout the Metroid series, Ridley can be considered the arch-nemesis of the series protagonist Samus Aran. Ridley is one of the highest-ranking commanders of the Space Pirates, leading many of their campaigns of conquest across the galaxy. Among the Pirates and other races, he has come to be known as the Cunning God of Death, due both to his cruel and murderous nature and his talent for escaping certain death. History Ridley's first fateful confrontation with Samus Aran ended in his defeat. After Samus defeated Mother Brain and destroyed the Space Pirates' operations on Zebes, Ridley was believed to have perished. Ridley, though wounded beyond fighting capability, was still alive. After the destruction of Tourian, several Pirate ships that were in Zebes' orbit had managed to escape to regroup their strength elsewhere; the crippled Ridley was brought onto one of them, the Frigate Orpheon. The Space Pirates, by order of High Command, reconstructed his body and infused it with machinery, turning him into "Meta Ridley". His transformation would reach its final stages when the Orpheon arrived on planet Tallon IV's orbit. When the Parasite Queens broke out on the Frigate Orpheon, Ridley re-encountered Samus while she was escaping the exploding frigate. While she stood in shock witnessing her reborn nemesis, Meta Ridley broke free of his restraints and escaped the frigate, flying down to Tallon IV. Samus raced back to the Exterior Docking Hangar and tracked him to the planet below. As she pursued Ridley, she lost tracking of him, and was required to search for him via ground-based recon. She saw him flying over the Phendrana Shorelines when she arrived at the Phendrana Drifts, and watched him fly away, presumably to the Glacier One facility or even the Phazon Mines to alert the Pirates occupying these bases that the Hunter was here. After Samus destroyed both laboratory operations, she had collected the twelve Chozo Artifacts needed to access the Impact Crater. While preparing to open the Artifact Temple, Meta Ridley flew in and destroyed the Chozo Totems, preventing Samus from accessing the crater. In retaliation, she battled him once again. At the battle's conclusion, the temple's Chozo Statues blasted Meta Ridley and sent him hurtling into the Impact Crater, where an explosion was seen. His fate remained unknown. Despite his fall, Meta Ridley somehow survived. Sometime before the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Dark Samus used the power of Phazon to make not only the Pirate ship Colossus's crew, but also all the inhabitants of Urtraghus (a pirate homeworld) bow to her will, with Meta Ridley included. Now loyal to her, he played a role in the Norion invasion, where Samus fought him once again. He was first seen by Samus from afar when he easily decimated a squad of Federation Marines. He later tried to attack Samus while she was crossing through a Morph Ball tunnel (where she was quite vulnerable), but she managed to use her bombs to escape his grip. He then ambushed her in Generator C after she had begun activating it, with the intention of crushing Samus, but instead broke through the glass floor, sending both of them down the Generator Shaft. Samus had no time to react to his sudden disappearance and was forced to battle him again. Ridley was not fully healed from his fight on Tallon IV and was quite weak, allowing Samus to easily defeat him. At the battle conclusion, she delivers several shots directly into his throat, leaves him to fall the rest of the way down the Generator Shaft as she was rescued by Rundas. Ridley, however, survived this battle too: he traveled to the Pirate Homeworld and at an undetermined time became the Pirate Seed's guardian; the massive quantities of raw Phazon given to him directly by the Phazon Core turned him into "Omega Ridley". Whether or not he willingly approached the Leviathan or was forced (by Dark Samus or the Leviathan itself) is unknown. Samus encountered him in the Leviathan and defeated him. However, Ridley's disintegration (unlike other Leviathan guardians) was never actually seen. He may have potentially fled the seed before Samus could notice, due to the massive corruption she herself was receiving. Abilities Meta Ridley is capable of flying at high speeds and is remarkably tough despite his seemingly frail appearance, capable of taking larges amounts of damage. He is capable of launching projectiles of flaming gas from his mouth that strike with explosive force and he can easily slash and impale victims with his tail. His cybernetic enhancements include additional armour to protect his body, complete replacement of his wings with mechanical prosthetics and missile launchers to bombard ground-based targets. Category:Cyborgs Category:Alien Cyborgs Category:Video Game Cyborgs Category:Metroid Category:War Machines